Royals open up series against Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of California of North America

The good news is that the Royals scored more than 5 runs for the first time this season. The bad news is that the Bale and Nomo were awful. Hopefully Gil Meche can break through tonight and get his first win agaisnt the Angels. Weaver will be the opposing pitcher and is 1-2 despite having a good ERA.

4/15/08

Stud of the Game:
Tony Pena Jr. - 2 fo 4, 1 run, 2 RBI, 1K

Bum of the Game:
Hideo Nomo - 1 IP, 3 hits, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1K (just beat out Bale)

Back in First Place

Royals get their first back to back complete game performance since 2000. Bannister and Greinke have looked fantastic so far this year! The Royals have gone 13 straight games this season without scoring more than 5 runs, which makes our pitching staff look amazing considering we have 8 wins and are in first place. Billy Butler now has a 13 game hitting streak to start the season. I attended the game on Saturday and am very pleased with my Butler jersey. I got there 2 hours before game started and there was a HUGE line. The Royals manager greeted me at the gate and was the one who game me my jersey so that was pretty neat. Too bad the Royal's bats were as cold as the weather that night...

4/10/08

Stud of the Game:
Mark Teahen: 3 for 4, Royals only run

Bum of the Game:
Hideo Nomo: 3 IP, 2 ER, 4 hits, 2 HR, 2 BB, 1K

4/11/08

Stud of the Game:
Alex Gordon: 2 for 4, about the only positive during this shutout

Bum of the Game:
Jose Guillen: 0 for 4, 2K, 5 runners left on base

4/12/08

Stud of the Game:
Brett Tomko: 6 IP, 2 ER, 1BB, 1 K, Great defensive play, got the loss

Bum of the Game:
Jose Guillen: 0 for 4, 1 left on base

4/13/08

Stud of the Game:
Brian Bannister: Complete Game, 0 ER, 1 run allowed, 3K, 1 BB, 3 hits allowed, Win

Bum of the Game:
Jose Guillen: 3 game streak being Bum, 0 for 4, 2 K, 4 runners left on base

4/14/08

Stud of the Game:
Zach Greinke: Complete game, 1 ER, 5 hits, 4 K, 1 BB, Win

Bum of the Game:
Mark Grudzielanek: 0 for 4, 2 left on base

Will Return on Monday

I will be out of town this weekend so I won't be able to post until then (maybe even Sunday night). I gotta leave here in about 10 minutes so I will just post my studs/bums from Thur-Sun whenever I get back.

Royals Shutout Yankees, Go For Sweep Tomorrow

Once again our pitching was lights out! Greinke went 8 strong innings and goes to 2-0 on the season. He lowered his ERA to 0.60 in the process. John Buck got the Royals on the board in the 5th with a solo HR, his first of the year. Another interesting stat is that Joey Gathright recorded his 6th steal of the season, but got caught on trying to get his 7th steal. Guillen ended up leaving 5 runners on base going 1-4...and actually raised his batting average to .152. Great game in crappy weather. The boys in blue go for the sweep tomorrow at 7:10 CST.

4/9/08

Stud of the Game:
Zach Greinke - 8 shutout innings, 6 hits, 2 K, 2 BB, great outing!

Bum of the Game:
Tony Pena Jr. - 0 for 4, 1K, batting average now a pathetic .040

Guillen was going to get Bum of the Game leaving 5 runners on base, but he did manage to get a hit and 1 RBI, so Pena Jr. edges him out tonight.

Image source: www.tsn.ca

Royals Win Season Opener Against Yankees

Great pitching today giving up only 2 runs against a Jeter-less Yankees team. It's quite amazing how the Royals are in a tie for first despite Jose Guillen not putting up any offensive numbers this season. Our slugger is batting a whopping .138 for the season. Gordon and Butler showed up at the plate once again. It is quite nice to see Gathright set loose to roam the bases. 3 stolen bases today giving him 5 for the season...not too shabby! Bannister is now 2-0 after pitching a good 5 innings. Soria was perfect in the 9th once again.

4/08/2007

Stud of the Game:

Joey Gathright - 2 for 4, 2 runs, 3 stolen bases

Bum of the Game:

Jose Guillen - 0 for 5, 2 strikeouts, 3 runners left on base

Image reference: http://kansascity.royals.mlb.com/kc/images/fan_forum/wallpaper/2007/Gathright1024x768.jpg

Butler Jersey Night Near Sellout

Just to let everybody know, there are only a few tickets left for saturday's game. So if you were planning on going I would get online and buy tickets right now. The best tickets that were available for 2 people at the time of my purchase (today at 9pm) was row YY in the upper section of the upper deck.

Pitching Wins It For Royals Today

Today I am having the exact opposite problem that I had the past 2 games. I now have several players that deserve to be "stud of the game" today. I am going to give it to Soria because he was perfect in every way in the 9th, earning his 3rd save of the season. Tomko actually pitched 5 shutout innings and he, along with Alex Gordon, deserve consideration today as well. Butler was 3 for 4 at the plate today and knocked in 2 doubles. Great road trip for the Royals going 4-2.

4/6/2008

Stud of the Game:

Joakim Soria: 1 IP, 1 Save, 3 K, 0 BB, 0 H (in other words he was awesome)

Bum of the Game:

Ross Gload: 0 for 4, 2 K, 2 runners left on base

The Royals will be playing the Yankees in their home opener on Tuesday.

Royals Need To "Walk" Off Those Twinkies

After a quick 3-0 start, the Royals have gone into an offensive funk in the late innings. From innings 4-9, the Royals have scored a total of 2 runs this series. Also, the Royals have had a total of 0 walks this series!!! The Royals were never really out of either game, they just couldn't knock in that extra run or 2. Looking on the bright side, we have been competitive in every game so far this season.

4/4/2008

Stud of the Game:
Billy Butler - 2 for 4, 2-out RBI

Bum of the Game:
Alex Gordon - 0 for 4, 3 runners left on base

4/5/20008

Stud of the Game:
Alberto Callaspo - 1 for 4, 1 run, 1 RBI, 1 triple

Bum of the Game:
Gil Meche - 5.2 IP, 6 ER, 5 K, 1 HR, 2 BB

Picking "Stud of the Game" has been difficult this series as nobody has really had an outstanding game yet. Gil Meche got off to a great start until he gave up the 3-run HR today.

Kitty Cats Swept!

First I would like to apologize for not writing much the past week. I've been extremely busy and haven't had the time to post.

Now I would have never dreamed the Royals would have swept one baseball's best teams on the road to start the season. It is really incredibile! Our pitching has been outstanding thus far, although the next 2 pitchers in the rotation are not in the same class as Meche, Bannister, and Greinke. Let's hope we can keep it going against the Twins. Also, looking at the schedule, it apears this might be are most difficult month as far as quality teams we're playing. If we can manage to finish April with a .500 record I think things are looking very good for the rest of the season.

Now let me give out my awards for the past 2 games:

4/2/08

Royals Stud of the Game: Brian Bannister.

7 innings of shutout, 2 hit baseball. Also had 0 walks.

Royals Bum of the Game: Alex Gordon.

0-4 at the plate, 4 runners left on base, 3 strikeouts.

4/3/08

Royals Stud of the Game: Zach Greinke

7 innings only giving up 1 run, 3K, 6 hits given up.

Royals Bum of the Game: Tony Pena Jr

Has a great glove, but 0-4 today with 2 runners left on base.

Image source: http://www.hbcprotocols.com/Images/greinke.jpg

Royals Take First Game Of The Season

What an exciting start to the season! I won't lie, the first thought that went through my head early in the game was "Gil Never receives any run sport." Then Alex Gordon comes to the rescue. Batter by batter, the Royals chipped away timely hits and ended up winning 5-4 in the 11th inning.

Royals Stud of the Game: Leo Nunez (2IP, W, 3K, 1BB, 0.00 ERA)

Royals Bum of the Game: Jose Guillen (0-5, 2K)

Many people will argue that Gordon deserves to be the player of the game (and maybe he does?), but I was very happy the way Nunez was able to shut down the Tigers offense when he the Royals couldn't afford any goof-ups. I always get nervous watching the Royals in extra innings, but Nunez did a great job.

2008 Predictions Are Here!

Well the time has finally come for me to post my pre-season predictions for this 2008 season.

Royals
HR Leader: Alex Gordon (23 HR)
AVG Leader: Billy Butler (.312)
RBI Leader: Billy Butler (97 RBI)
SB Leader: Alex Gordon (17 SB)
Runs Leader: David DeJesus (96 R)

ERA Leader: Zach Greinke (3.94 ERA)
Wins Leader: Zach Greinke (13 W)
Strikeout Leader: Gil Meche (142 K)
Saves Leader: Joakim Soria (31 SV)

Biggest Disapointment: Brian Bannister
Biggest Surprise: Joey Gathright

Best Off-Season Move: Jose Guillen
Worst Off-Season Move: Brett Tomko (is he worth 4 million dollars?)

Team MVP: Alex Gordon
2008 All-Star: Zach Greinke

AL Central Standings
1)Detroit Tigers
2)Cleveland Indians
3)Chicago White Sox
4)Kansas City Royals
5)Minnesota Twins

Royals record: 78-84

Hey I know they aren't the numbers you would like to see, but I'm trying to prevent my love of Royals baseball from influencing my predictions. Even though Guillen isn't listed in any offensive category, I think he will still have solid offensive numbers. Thoughts?

Emil Brown Has Decent Start To Season

As most of you already know, the MLB season started early this morning in Japan. Emil Brown, the former Royal, had an OK debut with the A's. He was 1-for-4 with 1 RBI and a walk. His lone hit was a double. Emil also batted 5th in the lineup.

Over the weekend, the Royals decided that Hochevar was going to start the season in AAA. This kinda surprises me, but according to the KC Star on Monday, he needs a little more "seasoning." While I am not completely surprised by this move, I felt he would have been a better option then the other pitchers trying to make the starting rotation. It now appears Bale will win out the #4 position. I'm not even going to speculate about the #5 spot.

Image Reference: http://mlb.mlb.com/images/2007/09/23/riy8S3LO.jpg

George Brett Impressed With Gathright

If anybody has checked out the KC Star, you would have found an interesting article by Jeffrey Flanagan. http://www.kansascity.com/sports/columnists/jeffrey_flanagan/story/540511.html Apparently, Out of all the players Brett has seen this spring, he has been most impressed with Joey Gathright. Even Paul Splittorff has noticed a big change this spring. Splittorff claims this is the fastest he has ever seen Joey run. This will only fuel speculation that maybe the Royals should move Teahen to 1st base in order to put Gathright in the lineup daily. George Brett also said that Joey Gathright is the best bunter on the team. I'm sure we'll see lots of Gathright whilte Guillen is serving his suspension.

Next week I'll be posting my predictions for the upcoming season. I'll be gone until Monday, so have a good Easter weekend for those who celebrate it.

What's The Deal With Callaspo?

I just can't seem to figure this guy out. Is he for real, or is he just having a good spring? I took a look at his stats from the past 2 years, and they are not impressive at all (please note that he only played 79 games during that span). But considering he is just 24 years old, maybe he has turned a corner and is ready to take his game to a whole new level? I just don't know? Kansas City already has a decent utililty player in German, so where would Callaspo fit in if he makes the team?

Image reference: kcroyals.com

Nomore Nomo

Nomo is officially out of the running for making the rotation: http://www.kansascity.com/sports/story/534283.html

Fight Club

With Spring Training nearing an end, it will be interesting to see who comes out on top for the #4 and #5 spot in the rotation. Let's look at possible candidates:

Nomo: 11 IP, 5.73 ERA, 11K, 2BB, 1 HR

I think Nomo has impressed most fans with his quick start, but his momentum has slowed his last few outings. His strikeout to walk ratio is very good. My prediction: Not making rotation

Tomko: 10.2 IP, 10.13 ERA, 7K, 3BB, 2 HR

I WAS actually excited thinking Tomko WOULD be a good candidate for our last rotation spot...yikes!!! My prediction: Not making rotation

Bale: 9 IP, 4.00 ERA, 7K, 1BB, 1 HR

Has looked very solid this spring. I would consider him to be a finalist, but I still don't see him cracking the starting rotation. My prediction: Close but no cigar (i personally think he deserves a spot, but will be a good long relief pitcher instead).

Davies: 9 IP, 4.00 ERA, 5K, 2 BB, 2 HR

Like Bale, I've been happy with his performance. I still think he was a good pickup last season, and feel he will be in the rotation at some point this season...just not to start. My prediction: Eventually cracking rotation

De La Rosa: 8.1 IP, 7.56 ERA, 5K, 6 BB, 1 HR

I would have expected him to be the #4 starter to start spring training...but not very good numbers. I believe his past experience will give him the edge over other deserving candidates for the #5 spot. My prediction: #5 starter...but not for long

Hochevar: 8.0 IP, 2.25 ERA, 3K, 1BB, 0 HR

Strong spring, good numbers, deserving of spot. My prediction: #4 starter for the season

Well there you have it, just my thoughts on how things would stand as of today.

Image reference: kcroyals.com

Butler Makes Top Headline On CBS Sportsline

Just to give heads up to everybody, there is a very good 3-page article about Billy Butler on the main page of CBS Sportsline's website. Here is the link: http://cbs.sportsline.com/mlb/story/10709857

Central Division Pre-Season Rankings

In anticipation for March Madness, I decided to create a college-like format for my pre-season player rankings in the Central Divsion. I will have my BOLD predictions for the 2008 season posted in about 2 weeks. You can leave feedback if you would make changes to the list.

1st Team All-Central
C-Victor Martinez (CLE)
1B-Justin Morneau (MIN)
2B-Placido Polanco (DET)
3B-Miguel Cabrera (DET)
SS-Edgar Renteria (DET)
OF-Grady Sizemore (CLE)
OF-Delmon Young (MIN)
OF-Magglio Ordonez (DET)
DH- Travis Hafner (CLE)

2nd Team All-Central
C-Joe Mauer (MIN)
1B-Carlos Guilen (DET)
2B-Asdrubal Cabrera (CLE)
3B-Alex Gordon (KC)
SS-Orlando Cabrera (CHI)
OF-Curtis Granderson (DET)
OF-Jermaine Dye (CHI)
OF-Jose Guillen (KC)
DH-Billy Butler (KC)

I Like Big Butler And I Can Not Lie

Billy Butler is a beast (at the plate)!!! Another monster game in Spring Training going 2 for 3 with 4 RBI's. Big Billy also registered his 2nd HR of March and raised his batting average to .400 (Note: he did have a fielding error). I was reading through Athlon Sports Baseball magazine the other day, and they said the following about Butler: "There is no reason to believe he can't be a right-handed Travis Hafner." Since Hafner is a full-time DH, you can take that as being good or bad. If Butler continues to struggle on the field, hopefully his bat will more than make up for the errors he commits.

Image reference: http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory?id=3400415

Poll #1 Results

Thanks to everybody who voted. The final tally after 15 votes was:

40% Gil Meche (6 votes)
40% Zack Greinke (6 votes)
13% Joakim Soria (2 votes)
7% Brian Bannister (1 vote)

Question was "Which pitcher will have the best shot at making the 2008 All-Star team?"

And thanks to all who have visited my blog. I didn't expect more than 20 hits after my first 5 days, and instead ended up with 117. I hope you continue to enjoy reading my blogs throughout the season!

And if you choose "Other" for the new poll, please comment as to what your pick would be.

Average Royals Ticket Price Increases 14.9% for 2008

Yikes!!! $23.76 for a Royals ticket?? That's up 14.9% from last year's average of $20.67. Before you poop a brick, realize that Kansas City ranks as the 27th cheapest place to watch a ballgame. Even parking is below the national average. We should consider ourselves lucky that we're not Red Sox fans living in Boston. Have you checked out their ticket prices lately? Ouch!!!

Image reference:
beyondnessofthings.files.wordpress.com

Article reference: http://mlb.mlb.com/content/printer_friendly/kc/y2007/m10/d23/c2279672.jsp

This Joey Can Do More Than Jump

In case you haven't heard, Joey Gathright can flat out jump...and in case you need to see it to believe it, here is the 44 second youtube clip of Joey Gathright jumping over a car: http://youtube.com/watch?v=cySfw8f0beg Amazing! What else is amazing is that Gathright has 6 stolen bases in 13 at bats so far in Spring Training. Granted he mostly got those steals against AAA catchers, it is nice to see the new manager set him loose on the basepaths. Last year wasn't a stellar year for him, getting caught nearly 50% of the time. Hopefully he will be able to live up to his base stealing potential and be a nuisance for pitchers whenever he gets on base. However, it will be difficult for Gathright to see any playing time with Teahen, DeJesus, and Guillen playing in the OF.

Image Reference: 2007 fleer card

2008 Promotions

Anybody else excited about this year's promotions?? I personally am looking forward to the powder blue jerseys. Some others that I'm excited about are: Hot Dog T-shirt night (heck ya), Buck nights, and Bobblehead nights. There are some odd promotions that I'm kind of scratching my head over. Santa hats? I guess they will look good during the winter meetings? What is a rally racket? I think a promotion that requires the Royals to be losing in order to appreciate is an odd promotion, however I'm sure I'll be wishing I had one whenever Gil Meche only recieves 1 run of support heading into the 7th inning. What are some of the promotions you are looking (and not looking) forward to?

Image Reference: kcroyals.com

Oakland Royals??

It struck me this morning that many of our former starting players end up in Oakland. Mike MacFarlane, Johnny Damon, Jermaine Dye, Mike Sweeney, Emil Brown, etc. In fact Oakland could potentially have 4 former Royals on their 25 man roster to begin the season (Emil Brown, Mike Sweeney, Donnie Murphy, Mark Ellis). Mike Sweeney is iffy, but the way he is swinging the bat in spring training, it will be hard for the A's to not look past him. Feel free to leave a comment if you feel I am missing some players, and I will be sure to add them to the list.

And for the record, I will have a new poll up every tuesday.

Guillen Worth The Money? (Part 2)

I have received some advice regarding the stats from my first blog. As you may have noticed, Emil Brown did not play the entire season, so his numbers are not proportional to Guillens. Here are the career numbers (for 162 game seasons) for a better comparison. Thanks to STL_Royal and ESPN for the numbers.

Guillen:
Years--G--AB--R--2B--3B--HR--RBI--BB--SO--SB--CS--AVG--OBP
7.83--162-573-76-30--3---21--86---31--107--3-- 3--.274--.325

Brown:
Years--G--AB--R--2B--3B--HR--RBI--BB--SO--SB--CS--AVG--OBP
3.82--162-482-65-26--3---12--70---44--105- 13--3--.262--.329

Guillen Worth The Money?

Is a guy who has only reached the 100 RBI plateau once really worth a 3-year $36,000,000 contract? Especially when that guy is in his 30's? Well lets look at last year's stats and compare them to the player he is replacing:

Stat_______Guillen_____Brown_____Production___
AVG ---------.290 ---------.257---------Guillen +12.8%
AB -----------593---------- 366--------- Guillen +62.0%
R ------------ 84----------- 44---------- Guillen +90.9%
HR----------- 23------------6----------- Guillen +383.3%
RBI---------- 99------------62---------- Guillen +59.7%
SB------------5 ------------ 12----------- Brown +240%

Errors-------- 8-------------6------------Brown +2
Assists--------9-------------8----------- Guillen +12.5%
PCT--------- .972--------- .972----------Even

Considering Emil Brown led the Royals in RBI's last year, Guillen is a HUGE upgrade offensivly. Their defensive stats are nearly identical, but that's not where the Royals were hurting last year. Lets not forget that Emil Brown is also 2 years older than Guillen. Perhaps the biggest benefit of signing Guillen is that it shows other MLB players that the Royals are willing to spend money to try and win. Guillen is probably not worth $12M/year, but I'm excited to see how he performs once his suspension ends.